Weldbond adhesive

Kevin, I did a similar structure but not on the slope that you have. I did all the piers first just as you described. Easier than the second method. As for glue, I have been using Weldbond for several years now for gluing dissimilar materials. It looks and acts similar to PVA wood glue and is thick enough to be a gap filler.

https://www.weldbond.com/

Lyndon,   Thank you for the

Lyndon,   Thank you for the reply and recommendation for Weldbond.  I looked through the Weldbond website for comments related to XPS foam and I see no mention of compatibility one way or the other.

Is your experience that Weldbond will not eat the foam?

Thanks again,

Kevin

 What I would do and have

What I would do and have done ; Build the piers, and attach them to the base of structure. Then sink them into the foam as needed to get proper hight. By pressing down ,the piers will indent the foam ,easy to dig the holes.

I use Arlene'c tacky glue or plane ole caulk.

XPS foam?

Kevin, I have no idea whether Weldbond has an effect on XPS foam. I have tried it on styrofoam, foamcore and EVA foam with no sign of it attacking any of those types. Best to try it on a small scrap piece. I suggest you try Weldbond anyway, because it won't go astray, it really is an universal adhesive. I still use liquid cement on styrene though. (Currently using Revell). When you finish your build I hope you will post some photos on this forum.

Sue,  Thank you for sharing

Sue,  Thank you for sharing your ideas.  I agree with you and Lyndon, that attaching the piers to the building (and placing entire assembly into the foam) is the way to go.   Thinking I'll excavate a footer into the foam - about an inch deep - to give the piers plenty of length to get down into the base. 

Lyndon,  Sounds good - I'll pick up some Weldbond.  As you say, sounds like a very universal product.  And I do want to share images of this project as I go along.  This is my first 1:48 scale project - a recreation of my dad's 1850's farm house - and I'm eager for people to see it.

Best,

Kevin

A Brilliant Suggestion to use Magnets

I received a suggestion from a different forum on how I might go about this.  The idea was magnets ... small magnets set into the foam and also attached to be bottom of the brick piers.   BRILLIANT!!!

Controlling the depth and level of the pier footers was not sounding fun. With this idea I only have to control the depth of the magnet and can make much more precise holes to place them in. Also sounds like the magnets could really reduce the number of "solid" contacts points I need to hold everything in place.  Just need to find the correct "strength" of magnets ...

Hoping this helps others.

Kevin

Back again with a new idea

Back again to share an idea that came to me for attaching my structure to the base.  

You'll see in my original images that my floor is a T-shaped piece of wood.  That represents the house footprint only and does not include the porches.  I've had to remake that floor a couple times due to warping / twisting.  Basically, I can't make it stay flat!   I began thinking of gluing a couple strips of oak to the bottom of the floor to keep it flat when it occurred to me those strips of wood could actually be a solid/rigid mount - all the way through the foam - attaching the floor directly to the inside bottom of my base (which is 3/4" cabinet grade sanded plywood).

The image below shows the rigid mount from top view and side view. The brown shape will be a strip of oak 2.5" wide, 9.5" long, and 2.25" tall. The mount will be set in from the edges far enough that it will be invisible from the outside.  The height of the rigid mount will set the back of the house at 8" (in 1:1 scale) above grade.  It seems this way I can make the structure perfectly level with only one dimension to control, with no concern about controlling the level depth of multiple brick piers.  I can just cut the pier holes as deep as I want for the piers to set down into the foam. 

Best yet, I get to test it all before fully committing.  I had already decided to replace the XPS pink foam with high-density SPS white foam. So I can use this pink foam and a spare floor to shake out any problems.

If anyone reads this, can you tell me the correct forum thread for sharing photos of my progress? 

Thanks,

Kevin

Gravity?  

Gravity?  

Basement block

Your basement block idea looks good to me Kevin.

And yup, this “Scenery and structures” forum is a good place to talk about structures.

Conclusion of the rigid mount

I wanted to share how my idea of a rigid mount for my structure has evolved.  I cut a hole in the foam to get a precise measurement from the foam surface to the bottom of my diorama base.  

I decided on a T-shaped rigid mount, at 2-1/4" tall, which I cut from the heart of a 2x4. 

I haven't attached the block to the floor yet, but the third photo shows about what it'll look like. 

My original floor design was made from craft plywood. I actually had to remake the floor a couple of times due to the plywood warping - I just couldn't control the flatness of that material.  I finally abandoned the plywood and framed my own floor using 3/16 x 3/16 stock and then skinned the frame with 1/32 sheathing. I'm very happy with the outcome! The floor is flat as a fritter and that makes me happy!  Besides, the "beams" in my floor work out to 9" x 9" in 1:48 scale and that's closer to real life for the period of home for which I'm recreating. 

When its time, the T shape will be cut out of the foam and the block will attach directly to the bottom of the diorama base.

Installed

And this is how that looks installed into the diorama base.  This gives a good idea of the slope in my topography.